Early Presidential Election, 9 June 2019

Early Presidential Election, 9 June 2019

TYPE: Election observation mission

COUNTRY: Kazakhstan

International Election Observation Mission press conference, 10 June 2019, Nur-Sultan

Mission at a glance

• Head of Mission: Ambassador Urszula Gacek
• Core team of 11 staff from 9 participating States
• 22 long-term observers to be deployed throughout the country
• 300 short-term observers requested from OSCE participating States

Mission schedule

8 May:   Opening press conference14 May:  Deployment of long-term observers

5 June: Arrival of short-term observers

6-7 June: Briefing of short-term observers

7 June: Deployment of short-term observers9 June:  Election day10 June:  Press conference on preliminary findings and conclusions

12 June: Departure of short-term observers16 June:  Departure of long-term observers19 June:  Departure of the core team

Following an official invitation from the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ODIHR has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the 9 June early presidential election.

The ODIHR EOM and the OSCE Project Office in Nur-Sultan operate separately under their specific mandates.

Long-term observation

The ODIHR EOM, headed by Ambassador Urszula Gacek, consists of 11 international experts based in Nur-Sultan. In addition, 22 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 14 May.

The ODIHR EOM will assess the early presidential election for its compliance with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation. Observers will closely monitor candidate registration, campaign activities, the work of the election administration and relevant governmental bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, the media environment, and the resolution of election-related disputes. As part of the observation, the EOM will conduct a comprehensive monitoring of the media.

Election day

ODIHR has requested 300 short-term observers to be deployed immediately prior to the 9 June election. The short-term observers will be deployed throughout the country in multinational teams of two to monitor the opening of polling stations, the voting, the counting of ballots, and the tabulation of results.

The day after the election, ODIHR, together with its partners, will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation of the entire electoral process will be issued approximately eight weeks after the end of the observation mission.

Co-operation with Other Partners

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is planning to deploy observer delegations for the election.

Previous elections

ODIHR has observed nine elections since 1999 in Kazakhstan, most recently the 2016 early parliamentary elections.